Submitted by: Dan Rich
Audrey Marie Hengen
Nov. 6, 1936 - Dec. 21, 2001
South Bend Tribune 12/26/2001
Audrey Marie Hengen, beloved wife,
mother, grandmother and friend, passed from this life on Friday,
December 21, full of hope in Christ and awaiting resurrection in
the fullness of time. Born in 1936 in Pawtucket, Rhode Island,
only surviving daughter of Herbert and Mae (Convey) Smith,
she grew up in Newport, Rhode Island. She attended St.
Catherine's Academy in Newport and received her B.S.N. from
Boston College in 1959.
At age 24, she married Lt. Edward Hengen at
St. Joseph Catholic Church in Newport. That same year they moved
to Spangle, Washington, to care for the Hengen family farm; their
eldest child (Lisa) was born there in 1962. One year later,
Audrey and her husband moved to Rock Island, Illinois, where Ed
began working for John Deere. They remained in the Quad Cities
for the next 19 years; John (1963), Kathryne (1964), and Mary
(1975) were born there. In 1978, Audrey brought her mother from
Rhode Island to live with them and cared for her until her
mother's death in 1995. While in the Quad Cities, they became
leaders of a charismatic prayer group at their parish and
developed a desire to live more fully in Christian community.
In December of 1982, Ed, Audrey, and family
moved to South Bend, Indiana, to join the People of Praise, an
ecumenical Christian community. Her love of ecumenism also led
her to participate in the regional chapter of Women's Aglow,
where she served as president. She and her husband also were
involved with the religious education program in their parish of
Sacred Heart of Jesus in Lakeville. In 1991, Ed and Audrey moved
to the Twin Cities, where they lived for the next 6 years as
member of the Servant branch of the People of Praise in
Minnesota. After Ed's retirement, Ed and Audrey moved back to the
South Bend area to be near their older children and fourteen
grandchildren. Audrey was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in
late November and died of heart failure during the early stages
of chemotherapy. She is survived by her husband, Edward J. Hengen
of Niles, MI, and her children, Lisa M. (husband, Thomas J.) Loughran
of Granger, IN; John P. (wife, Karen) Hengen of South Bend;
Kathryne A. (husband, Joseph J.) Cramer of Niles, MI; and
Mary P. Hengen (fiancé, John A. Lee) of Burnsville, MN.
Audrey will be dearly missed by her family and many friends in
Christ.
A viewing will be held from 2 - 4 p.m. and 6
- 7 p.m. with a prayer service at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, December
27th, at the People of Praise Community Center, 53666 Ironwood
Road in South Bend. A funeral Mass will be held at 10:30 a.m.
Friday, December 28th, at Christ the King Catholic Church, 52473
State Road 933 North in South Bend; burial will follow at St.
Joseph Valley Memorial Park on Cleveland Road in Granger.
Kaniewski Funeral Home is handling arrangements.